Inside Neko Case's Vermont Home

Leave the McMansions to run-of-the-mill rock stars. Indie musician Neko Case put her inimitable stamp on a historic Vermont farm, with quirky salvage, bold new finds, and more than a few heirloom seeds.

By The Piano

By The Piano

Rarely do the terms "rock star" and "homebody" describe the same person. Then again, Neko Case is far from your typical rock star. Or homebody. The Grammy nominee, whose genre-defying sound falls somewhere between alt-country and punk-folk, spends as many as 10 months a year on the road. But just because she's not physically at her 1787 Vermont farmhouse doesn't mean she isn't there — dreaming and decorating, room by room, in her head.

In this photo: Neko Case does much of her composing in the kitchen, at an old piano she rescued from a nearby frat house. The alcove's mirrored tile, along with the white version covering the walls, is by Artistic Tile. As for the border up top? Pratt & Larson custom-made that tile, dubbing the color "Neko red."

One-of-a-Kind Finds

One-of-a-Kind Finds

Case personalized the piano with a vintage tractor emblem that just happens to bear her name. She bought the flea-market tiger painting while on tour. "A number of my friends are musicians, and if the piano is in the kitchen, people will play it," Case says.